advertisement

Hinsdale Central buzzer-beater ousts Naperville Central

There's no doubt who earned the "right time, right place" award Friday night.

It was Chase Hamilton, the Hinsdale Central senior guard huddled with teammates around a regional championship plaque.

Hamilton's offensive rebound and flipped-in putback at the buzzer gave the Red Devils a stunning 53-51 win over Naperville Central in the Class 4A Naperville Central regional final.

The victory seals the program's first regional title since 2007 and sends fourth-seeded Hinsdale Central (23-6) into Tuesday's East Aurora sectional semifinals against No. 1 Benet (21-7), which beat Waubonsie Valley 57-33.

"It was all pretty much a blur to me," said Hamilton, who corralled Thomas Ives' missed 3-pointer near the right block and scooped up the game-winner. "I just crashed the glass and it just landed in my hands. Somehow managed to get it in."

The game-winner was the 12th lead change of the night, in addition to eight ties. Six-foot-seven Red Devils junior Matt Rafferty, who scored a game-high 24 points, knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:27 left, only to be answered a half-minute later by Ryan Antony's 3 that tied it at 51-51.

Fifth-seeded Naperville Central got the ball back, but a missed shot and Hinsdale Central rebound set up the thrilling end after the Red Devils drained some clock and called timeout with 15 seconds left.

"We were focused on winning a regional, that was our goal from Day One of the season," said Naperville Central coach Pete Kramer. "The last 15 seconds I felt good about what we were doing. We made them take a bad shot, and the shot came off so weird. It almost missed the whole rim. It came off short, and enough time to get a putback."

A much-anticipated post matchup came to fruition as Rafferty went head-to-head with 6-8 Nick Czarnowski, who had 14 points, and 6-6 Patrick Maloney.

Naperville Central took its biggest lead of 36-31 on a steal and bucket by Antony, who scored a team-high 15 points. The Red Devils' 44-39 advantage early in the fourth quarter quickly faded as well when Maloney scored to put his team briefly ahead 45-44.

"We were really fortunate that it landed in our hands," Hinsdale Central coach Nick Latorre said of the finale. "Chase made a great play. It never exactly works out like you draw it up, but we were real fortunate that the ball kind of bounced to Chase and he made a play."

Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevin_schmit

Red Devils knock off Naperville C.

Maloney, Czarnowski double-team Huskies

Hinsdale Central holds off Glenbard West

Red Devils snap Mustangs’ streak

Images: Metea Valley at Hinsdale Central boys basketball

Images: Naperville Central vs. Naperville North boys basketball

Naperville Central goes big to get big win

Images: Metea Valley vs. Naperville Central boys basketball

Images: Hinsdale Central vs. Naperville Central boys basketball

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.